How do you handle separation anxiety?

I know it's super common for babies to go through separation anxiety, but somehow I totally lucked out with Mason and Audrey and never really dealt with it. Hayden on the other hand... if I'm not touching her, she's screaming like a banshee. Nobody can calm her down except me and even Daddy only has about a 20% success rate. Has anyone else gone through some severe separation anxiety and are there any helpful tips of things I can do to help her get past this?

I recently hired a mother's helper... but so far I've only been able to leave Hayden with her for about 10 minutes... and then I felt bad for Hayden and this poor teenage girl and gave in.

YES. Avery had it BAD from the time she was REALLY young. Like 2 months. The doctor was like, "she's too young for that" but then after two minutes of her screaming at the nurses and then her immediate recovery when she was given back to me he agreed.

With Avery it's all about the warming up time. She needs to just sit with me and observe the people we're hanging out with. If they fuss over her to quickly it overwhelms her. Once she's calmed down (and is getting squirmy) I'll put her on the floor, but I still tell my friends to kind of ignore her. Eventually she starts playing on her own and they can play with her, but not try to touch her or pick her up. I start trying to move around then. Do other things, leaver her line of sight, that sort of thing. After she's okay with that she'll let other people hold her as long as I'm in the room. Leaving the room while other people are around is still a bit of a challenge but she's getting better. She warms up really quickly now with people that she sees frequently.

Thanks! It's what I've been doing - trying to just help Hayden warm up to the new face in our house. Hopefully it will happen soon and I can actually get some stuff done around the house! Don't get me wrong, it's nice to have someone that will play with Mason and Audrey... but they will sit and watch a movie while I work, it's Hayden that needs the most attention!

I don't remember too much separation anxiety. Under a year and or still nursing they always seemed to prefer me but if I went out alone, I knew my husband would take good care of them so I didn't worry too much other than a twinge of mommy guilt for leaving them behind.

obsessed with babywearing, cloth diapering, and breastfeeding (but not judgmental about those that aren't). I'm a SAHM that works. Loves cupcakes, kittens, and glitter; hates spiders, housework and pessimism.